Gupax is a (Windows|macOS|Linux) GUI for mining [**Monero**](https://github.com/monero-project/monero) on [**P2Pool**](https://github.com/SChernykh/p2pool), using [**XMRig**](https://github.com/xmrig/xmrig).
The [Monero GUI](https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui) software lets you run a Monero node (among other things). A Monero node connects you to other peers and lets you download Monero's [blockchain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain).
P2Pool as a concept was [first developed for Bitcoin](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/P2Pool) but was [never fully realized](https://github.com/p2pool/p2pool) due to many limitations. These limitations were fixed when SChernykh rewrote P2Pool from scratch for Monero. P2Pool combines the best of solo mining and traditional pool mining:
* ***It's decentralized:*** There's no central server that can be shutdown or pool admin that controls your hashrate
* ***It's permissionless:*** It's peer-to-peer so there's no one to decide who can and cannot mine on the pool
* ***It's trustless:*** Funds are never in custody, all pool blocks pay out to miners directly and immediately
Both Monero and P2Pool have built in miners but XMRig is quite faster than both of them. Due to issues like [anti-virus flagging](https://github.com/monero-project/monero-gui/pull/3829#issuecomment-1018191461), it is not feasible to integrate XMRig directly into Monero or P2Pool, however, XMRig is still freely available for anyone to download with the caveat being: you have to set it up yourself.
By default, though, Gupax will use a [Community Monero Node](#community-monero-nodes) so you don't even have to run your own full Monero node to start mining on P2Pool:
| https://github.com | Fetching metadata information on packages + download | `[Gupax]` tab -> `Check for updates` | [`update.rs`](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/blob/main/src/update.rs) |
| DNS | DNS connections will usually be handled by your OS (or whatever custom DNS setup you have). If using Tor, DNS requests [*should*](https://tpo.pages.torproject.net/core/doc/rust/arti/) be routed through the Tor network automatically | Same as above | Same as above |
| Community Monero Nodes | Connecting to with P2Pool, measuring ping latency | `[P2Pool Simple]` tab | [`node.rs`](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/blob/main/src/node.rs) |
The `--release` profile in Gupax is set to prefer code performance & small binary sizes over compilation speed (see [`Cargo.toml`](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/blob/main/Cargo.toml)). Gupax itself (with all dependencies already built) takes around 1m30s to build (vs 10s on a normal `--release`) with a Ryzen 5950x.
You'll need the development versions of libraries like `OpenSSL`, `SQLite`, and maybe some other ones already installed on your system. Read the compiler errors to see which ones are missing from your system and search around to see which packages you'll need to install depending on your distro.
This will build Gupax with the MSVC toolchain (`x86_64-pc-windows-msvc`). This is the recommended method and is how the pre-compiled release binaries are built.
GitHub's API blocks request that do not have an HTTP `User-Agent` header. [For privacy, Gupax randomly uses a recent version of a `Wget/Curl` user-agent.](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/blob/2b80aa027728ddd193bac2e77caa5ddb4323f8fd/src/update.rs#L134)
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### Can I quit mid-update?
If you started an update, you should let it finish. If the update has been stuck for a *long* time, it may be worth quitting Gupax. The worst that can happen is that your `Gupax/P2Pool/XMRig` binaries may be moved/deleted. Those can be easily redownloaded. Your actual `Gupax` user data (settings, custom nodes, pools, etc) is never touched.
Although Gupax uses a temporary folder (`gupax_update_[A-Za-z0-9]`) to store temporary downloaded files, there aren't measures in place to revert an upgrade once the file swapping has actually started. If you quit Gupax anytime before the `Upgrading packages` phase (after metadata, download, extraction), you will technically be safe but this is not recommended as it is risky, especially since these updates can be very fast.
Gupax itself uses around 100-300 megabytes of memory.
Gupax also holds up to [500,000 bytes](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/blob/2b80aa027728ddd193bac2e77caa5ddb4323f8fd/src/helper.rs#L63) of log data from `P2Pool/XMRig` to display in the GUI terminals. These logs are reset once over capacity which takes around 1-2 hours.
Memory usage should *never* be above 400~ megabytes. If you see Gupax using more than this, please send a bug report.
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### How is sudo handled? (on macOS/Linux)
[See here for more info.](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/tree/main/src#sudo)
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### Why does Gupax need to be Admin? (on Windows)
[See here for more info.](https://github.com/hinto-janaiyo/gupax/tree/main/src#why-does-gupax-need-to-be-admin-on-windows)
